Sudan: Mass influxes of wounded patients to hospitals, “war on people” continues
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams in three different parts of Sudan – Khartoum, North Darfur and South Darfur states – treated mass influxes of wounded people as the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continued, with little respect shown for civilian life.
On Feb. 4, in Nyala, South Darfur, 21 injured people were brought to the MSF-supported Nyala Teaching Hospital after airstrikes by the SAF hit a peanut oil factory, with reports of 25 people killed. On Feb. 3, airstrikes hit residential areas of Nyala, hitting and destroying civilian houses. The airstrikes took place in the afternoon when many people were around. Thirty two people were reportedly killed and dozens injured, with many brought to the Nyala Teaching Hospital.
“The bombing was near the hospital,” says an MSF doctor was working in the medical facility when the airstrikes took place.
“We felt the building shaking. When I went to the emergency room (ER), the situation was horrible. Blood was everywhere, some patients were suffering from fractures, some had limbs amputated. While I was going around the ER, I saw two children. One was four years old, the other was two years old. The caretaker of one of the children told me four of her family members had died, her mother and three siblings. Only her older brother and father survived because they were at work.”
Civilians have also been killed in El Fasher, North Darfur, the scene of fierce clashes in recent months. Over the last few days MSF teams have been treating wounded civilians in Zamzam camp after escalating heavy fighting between the RSF and SAF and their Joint Forces allies resulted in scores of casualties. On Feb 2, the MSF field hospital in Zamzam camp received 21 wounded people, more than half of whom were children who had been injured while fleeing Shagra, a village near El Fasher.
“The violence continues ruining lives, making it harder for people to access healthcare and putting healthcare workers at risk.
Ozan Agbas, MSF emergency manager
The MSF-run hospital in Zamzam is for pediatric and maternal healthcare and not equipped to handle trauma injuries requiring surgery. The only remaining surgical services were a few kilometres away, yet people were unable to use the road between Zamzam and El Fasher due to the ongoing fighting and shifting frontlines.
Patients in critical condition were trapped in Zamzam camp with no access to essential care. Four patients were among the wounded who passed away. Five patients were successfully referred to El Fasher on Feb. 3, where Saudi hospital remains somewhat functional despite relentless attacks, with a recent bombing of the facility on Jan. 24, reportedly killing 70 people.
Thousands of people fleeing Shagra have arrived in Zamzam in recent days, leaving everything behind in desperate search of safety. They have told our teams of horrific violence in the area. About 60 families from Shagra also reached Tawila, where MSF runs an emergency program providing emergency, nutritional, pediatric and maternal healthcare. They told our teams people were robbed and attacked as they fled along the road.
Violence has also intensified in Khartoum state since the beginning of February. On Feb. 4, during RSF shelling of Omdurman there were explosions within 100 metres of the MSF-supported Al Nao
hospital. The Ministry of Health reported that 38 people were injured and six people were killed, including a volunteer from Al Nao, an initiative in which people volunteer to assist in running the hospital.
This is the second time medics working at the hospital have responded to a mass influx of wounded patients in recent days. On Feb. 1, an RSF attack on a market killed 54 people, according to the Ministry of Health. Since the war in Sudan started, Al Nao hospital has been hit by explosions three times, in August 2023, October 2023 and June 2024.
“The violence that the RSF and SAF are inflicting on civilians right across Sudan is tragic and appalling,” said Ozan Agbas, MSF emergency manager. “The violence continues ruining lives, making it harder for people to access healthcare and putting healthcare workers at risk. We urge the warring parties to protect civilian life and spare them from this war on people.”
